Youngsters Push The Pace At The MIAC Meet

ST. PAUL, Minn. (3/03/12)—Concordia's underclassmen stepped up and led the way at the MIAC Championship Meet helping the Cobbers post a ninth-place finish at the meet held at Macalester College in St. Paul.

Freshmen and first year athletes accounted for 23 of the 29.5 points scored by the Cobbers at the conference meet. The leading MIAC Meet rookie was Mark Goss who completed his outstanding indoor campaign by finishing second in the high jump. His height of 6-06.25 is the fourth best in school history and best mark since the 2001 season.

Fellow freshmen Dustin Britten earned team points in three different events. On Friday he posted a career-best time of 8.68 in the 60-meter hurdles. That mark was good for fifth place and is the second fastest time in school history. He backed up his Friday showing by posting another top 3 all-time Cobber mark and then helping the Concordia 4x200-meter relay team break the school record. Britten clocked a 23.06 in the 200 meters which earned him a fifth-place finish at the meet. That time is the third best in program history. Britten then teamed with Ben Vickstrom, Bruce Shields and John Bye to break the all-time program record in the 4x2. Bye was the only non –freshmen on the quartet that ran a 1:31.57 and finished third at the conference meet. Their time bettered the two-year old record by almost a full .50 seconds.    

The field events ended up being the showcase for the Cobber upperclassmen. Juniors Brad Johnson and Erik Olson contributed the biggest results of the field corps at the meet. Johnson had a steady two-day performance in the heptathlon and placed sixth with a total of 4,255 points. His final score is the second best in program history. Olson posted a personal-best mark in the pole vault. He finished seventh with a height 14-05.25. His final mark moves into third place on the school's all-time top 10 list.     

Upperclassmen contributed points in the field events. Junior Brad Johnson's steady two-day performance in the Heptathlon garnered him 6th place with a total of 4255 points, #2 on the all-time list. Fellow Junior Erik Olson vaulted a personal best 14'5.25" to finish 7th and move to #3 all-time.


MIAC Meet Final Team Scores
1. St. Thomas -    189.5
2. Hamline - 129.5
3. Bethel - 104.5
4. Gustavus - 101.0
5. St. Olaf - 77.5
6. Carleton - 69.0
7. Saint John's - 42.5
8. Augsburg - 31.0
9. Concordia - 29.5
10. Macalester - 5.0
11. Saint Mary's - 0